Estimating Vertical Dimensions with Cephalometric Analysis

There is a need to replace the lost teeth and the supporting structures for the patient¿s social demands and functional rehabilitation. Prosthetic treatment with complete dentures is a very common treatment modality; the biggest challenge in its fabrication is to duplicate the normal vertical dimension. Failure can be avoided by completing the treatment without changing the vertical dimension7 and obtaining an optimal facial proportion. There are many methods to record VD. Radiographic cephalometry has been used as a diagnostic tool in Prosthodontics for over five decades and numerous authors, like Ricketts (1981), McNamara (1984) and Slavicek (1984) developed and computerized these techniques to co-relate and record VD in patients. cephalometric analysis can help to visualize skeletal and facial proportion relation. This study aims to use the lateral radiographs with cephalometric analysis, as it could be a simple, non- technique sensitive, non-invasive and atraumatic way to determine VD for complete denture patients and also to compare physiologic methods (swallowing / phonetics) with cephalometric method to record lower facial height.